Remnants of an Onyx
by Spartan13047
Summary: A brand new chance at life can be a gift. For one man it seems that way. At least for a while. For now he has to help a bumbling team of Huntresses make it through their schooling. He only hopes his past doesn't spring up to haunt him and the rest of the world.


General Ironwood stood in an observation room that overlooked a combat arena. He watched over a young man wearing black armour the encompassed his entire torso. It looked to have thinner plating around the stomach and lower back. The upper torso had the heaviest look. It extended a small way out from the torso. A glowing blue line ran up the middle of the chest plate. Even the young man's arms were armoured with spaulders and vambraces on each arm; along with armoured gloves that had armour plates on the back of the hand and fingers. He also had two small glowing blue dots on the back of his shoulders. He didn't have much armour on his legs other than his knee pads, armoured greaves and heavy combat boots. He also had a belt holding a small strip of four shotgun shells on one hip. On his stomach armour resided an insignia. The insignia consisted of a segmented skull that sat in the middle of a cog, a Crimson Omen. A full encompassing helmet covered his head that had glowing blue eye sockets.

Ironwood switched his gaze to his weapons. In the man's hands, he held a rather brutal looking assault rifle that had a chainsaw bayonet affixed to it. It looked strange as it seemed to have a skin or something on it that actually made it look like it was on fire. On his back sat a lever action shotgun and on his hip opposite the shotgun shells sat a massive revolver. And near the shells sat what looked liked spiked grenades and a couple cylindrical grenades. Suddenly the door behind the General slid open to reveal a young white-haired woman. Ironwood watched the woman walk beside him and look into the arena. He greeted her, "Winter."

"Sir," Winter replied as she observed the young man. Her nose scrunched up when she saw how much armour he wore and the assault rifle in his hands. It even looked like the teeth had little bits of blood on them. "Sir, what is the meaning of this? Who is he? And why set him up in a match against Gamma Squad?"

"Ozpin wanted me to test him. He showed up one day in Emerald Forest. As for who he is, we only know his name is Jay Rodgers with advanced and deadly training," Ironwood responded as he started to rub his chin in thought as he looked into the arena. Winter only huffed as she changed her attention back to the arena. Suddenly the man in question turned his head to the observation window with an almost piercing gaze. Winter suddenly shivered from it as if he looked through her.

* * *

'Crazy old man,' Jay thought to himself as he turned back to the environment. His side of the arena looked like a decrepit and bombed out city. His opponents' looked like a lush forest with few fallen logs and vines. He could still see opponents though. It was obvious both sides were observing each other. There four people in total against him. One of them had red accents all along his armour while others had blue. Red looked the more serious of the group as he continued to look at Jay with his weird visor-less helmet that exposed the mouth. Each one had a rifle slung on their back and a pistol on their hips. Blue 1 and Blue 2 were giggling about something while Blue 3 stood off to the side with his arms crossed not looking happy at the other two. Suddenly Blue 1 stepped up beside Red and shouted across the arena, "We'll try to go easy on ya since it's your first time!"

Jay didn't respond but instead reached toward the front of his Lancer and pulled back hard on the ripcord of the chainsaw. The saw spurted to life with black smoke coming out of the cooling ports along the barrel. Jay grabbed the throttle handle and rotated it back, making the saw roar in protest. Blue 1 just chuckled nervously before he backed up behind Red to rejoin Blue 2 and 3. Jay shut down the Lancer's saw and pushed the throttle handle against the body of the weapon as he moved near a wall. The four soldiers on the opposite side of the arena drew their rifles and waited for the signal.

A loud siren sounded through the arena to signal the beginning of the match. The soldiers began to fire at Jay as he sidestepped behind the wall. Red gave the signal to move forward. He moved forward as the 3 Blues followed behind him. All had their rifles raised as Blue 2 and 3 covered the flanks while Blue 1 covered their six. They soon approached the threshold between the forest and the city. The racket of Jay's chainsaw sounded off to the left. Red signalled to stop and they all turned their guns to the left which was Blue 2's side. There was a fallen log suspended in vines with more underneath it that blocked their vision.

Unbeknownst to them, Jay was further away, closer to where they had started the match. He knelt behind a bush as he adjusted his grip on his Boltok. 'Ironwood assured me that these soldiers would be fine if shot them with live ammunition. Let's see if he's right.'

The heavy kick of Boltok kicked it up as the high calibre round soared towards Blue 1's helmet. Sure enough, Blue 1 couldn't react in time as the bullet hit his aura. He stumbled back in surprise before the four soldiers quickly brought their rifles to bear on Jay's previous location. Jay quickly and quietly left that location as he avoided brush and sticks to get closer to them. Not long after he reached the suspended log and silently looked over it. He easily heard one of them on the other side. "Where the hell did he go?!"

With a small sinister smile, he brought his Lancer up. He pulled back on the ripcord. Within a second he was sawing through the log in front of him. As he pulled the Lancer back from the log and waited a couple seconds to build suspense. He raised his foot and kick the log with all his might. Upon contact, the log splintered and shot forward towards Red and the Blues. He immediately leapt through the debris and managed to catch Blue 2 with the stock of his Lancer. The sudden hit dazed Blue 2 as Jay turned him around and wrapped his arm around his chest, wielding his Lancer with one hand and started to drag Blue 2 back into the forest. He fired a quick burst from his Lancer to keep the other three from following him. Jay dragged Blue 2 back a ways before he released arm but quickly worked it around Blue 2's neck. The Lancer fell to the ground as Jay started to choke Blue 2 out. His chokehold held for several seconds as Blue 2 slowly grew weaker and weaker. Finally, he dropped Blue 2's body and picked up his Lancer from the ground.

A loud buzz sounded through the arena to signify Blue 2 was out of the fight. Jay quickly picked up Blue 2's unconscious form and threw him over his shoulder and jogged back to the city side of the arena.

* * *

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Blue 1 shouted in frustration. His hands kept shifting on his rifle as he looked back into the hole. "EXPLAIN TO ME HOW HE WAS ABLE TO MOVE THAT FAR THAT FAST WITHOUT US EVEN HEARING ABOUT IT?!"

"Quiet!" Red commanded as he looked to Blue 1 and 3. "We are dealing with a skilled opponent. So keep your eyes and ears open. Let's push into the city. If we're lucky we might get the drop on him."

Blue 3 nodded in affirmation while Blue 1 sighed in frustration. Red turned and started advancing towards the city with Blue 1 and 3 watching the flanks and rear. They continue to advance for about half a block before Red motioned for them to head down the on their left. They took several steps before Red signalled to stop. Blue 1 and 3 looked around before they turned their attention to him. Only find Blue 2 dangling from the side of a building by his ankles. Blue 2 didn't make any sound as Red and the two Blues advanced towards his hanging form. A gentle clink sounded right near their feet. Red looked down to see a cylindrical device before he shouted, "GRENADE!"

All three dove away as the grenade gave off a couple beeps before it exploded into thick white smoke. They slowly rose to their feet as they hacked and coughed in the smoke. Near instantly a heavy thud made itself known in the suffocating white smoke. A loud smack was heard as something impacted something else followed by a long groan of pain. As the smoke slowly began to dissipate another loud noise was heard and another groan of pain sounded. Red had slowly back out of the smoke with his rifle raised as he waited for the smoke to fully dissipate.

Two separate buzzers sounded to signify that Blue 1 and 3 were finally knocked out of the fight. As it got clearer, Red could make the blue glow of Jay's armour. Before Red could even react a shotgun blast tore through the smoke and smashed into him. The blast easily knocked off a quarter of his aura if not more. Then out of the remaining smoke, Jay charged forwards at Red. Red in a panic fired off a couple shots at Jay only to have his armour tank the hits as he kept moving. Without a second thought, Red discarded his rifle and reached behind his back. His hand back with a small rectangle before he flicked his wrist. In the expanse of a second, it formed into a full sword. He did an upward diagonal slash towards Jay.

Jay quickly jumped back from the blade settled into a stance ready to block or dodge. Red thrust forward with the tip of the blade while Jay reacted fast enough to twist out of the way. Red recovered quickly as he jumped back and avoided a backhand from Jay. They stood at a stalemate for a few seconds before Jay rapidly charged forward again. With no way to react because of the close distance, Jay wrapped one arm around Red's chest and lifted him up; then body slammed him into the hard asphalt. Red spit up before he looked up to see Jay over him. With one fist, Jay managed to break Red's aura and knocked him unconscious. Jay stepped away from Red and walked back to the forms of Blue 1 and 3. He picked up his Gnasher from the ground and slid it over his shoulder and onto his back. He looked up to where he pulled Blue 2 back over the edge of the building to make sure nothing happened to him. Finally, Jay sighed as he turned and started towards the exit of the arena.

* * *

Winter stared in shock as a single man had taken down an entire squad. Gamma Squad was an average squad in the Atlas military. They saw some frontline combat against Grimm and the White Fang. But even still, they were military trained and should have been able to beat one man. But this Jay Rodgers had treated them like pushovers and won the battle by a large margin. The leader of the squad only managed to get a couple lucky hits with his rifle. But they just looked like they pinged of Jay's armour as if nothing happened. Winter had to wonder where this man came from and how he was so strong.

"Coming Winter?" General Ironwood asked as he stood by the door with his arms behind his back. Winter was broken from her stupor as she looked back to her commanding officer. She quickly nodded and wiped the surprised expression from her face and follow Ironwood out of the observation room.

* * *

Jay sat on a table in a conference room as he waited for Ironwood to show up. He hummed a quiet tune to himself before his hand found its way to his COG tags around his neck. He gently thumbed the tag that had his name and rank on it. Not long his hand moved to the back of his waist and patted a pouch. He gently popped it open and brought around seven other sets of COG tags. He gently laid them out before he looked them over. He picked up two specific ones in each hand. One had the name Carl Rodgers and the rank of Major. The second set of COG tags had Amber Rodgers and the rank of Sergeant. Before long he quickly gathered them up and stuffed them back in his pouch. He took a deep breath just as the door to the conference room opened up. General Ironwood walked followed by a young woman Jay never saw before and two soldiers. One carried a duffle bag and the other carried Jay's personal Boom Shield. Carried was a bit of an over exaggeration, the one man lugged the duffle bag into the room while the other struggled to get a grip on the shield. He got off the table and looked to Ironwood, "General."

"First Lieutenant, since you passed the test you're now free to attend Beacon Academy. Ozpin has expressed great interest in you and he expects you to perform exceptionally. But I for one will be keeping an eye on you. Just remember that," Ironwood stated as he looked over Jay one last time. His little threat did nothing to phase Jay as he stared back and spoke with a cold and malicious tone, "Just so we're clear, General if you try anything against me. You don't want to know what happens when someone tries to cross me."

The woman with Ironwood immediately moved her hand to the hilt of her sword as Jay made the not so thinly veiled threat. Jay shifted his gaze to the woman and scoffed, "What are you going to do? Prick me to death?"

The woman growled as Jay walked over to the two men that carried his things. He took the black shield that was polished to a shine. He 'liberated' it off a Mauler Elite that so happened to get in his way during a rather lengthy bloodlust. He managed with some help to rig the shield up with same rotation motor from an older Boom Shield that appeared in the first few months of the Locust War. He slid the shield onto his right arm and strapped in place. Next, he grabbed the duffle bag from the other man and simply threw it over his shoulder and held it with a few fingers. He turned back to Ironwood, "I assume you have transport for me."

Ironwood nodded and motioned for the two soldiers in front of Jay. The one on Jay's right answered, "Follow us to your transport Bullhead."

Both men turned and walked out the door. Jay only sigh as he followed the two men out of the room.

* * *

Ozpin sat at his desk in his office as he looked at the holo-screen that showed General Ironwood's face. He took a long gulp from his mug before he set it down on his desk again. "Be careful with this one Oz. He's far more dangerous than what he's letting on."

"Thank you, James. I'll be sure to keep an eye on him," Ozpin replied a little cooler than he wanted. Before the silence could turn awkward Ozpin bid farewell and hung up the call. Before long the elevator dinged and the doors slid open to reveal the man in question. Ozpin watched as Jay walked in a little way before he stopped and looked at his surroundings. He still had his shield strapped to his arm and his duffle bag over his shoulder. He gave out a little whistle as he looked to Ozpin and finished the walk to the desk. Ozpin smiled slightly as he stood up and walked around the desk. He offered a hand to Jay which Jay took and shook. Ozpin spoke first and led the conversation, "Mr. Rodgers. How are you feeling?"

"Been better. But nothing to complain about yet," Jay replied while he shrugged. Jay watched as Ozpin returned to his chair and then placed his elbows on the desk; then linked his fingers together. Jay dropped his bag on the floor with a heavy thud as he continued to stare at Ozpin, "I know you have questions."

Ozpin sighed as he let his hands drop to the desk and looked into the blue eye sockets of Jay's helmet. "There is no record of you anywhere on the planet. So I have to ask, where are you from?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow as Jay seemed to mutter a curse and look away from him. After a quick second, Jay looked him in the eye again, "Can that wait? It's not anything personal against you. It's just I don't feel like anybody here is ready for that information yet."

"And why is that?" Ozpin asked as he frowned internally. Jay let out a long sigh before he replied, "It's better you didn't know."

Ozpin this time actually frowned before he only nodded in reply. He could feel he wouldn't get anywhere with Jay right now. He tapped quickly on his desk before he pulled up four pictures of four girls. Jay looked between all four and recognized them as the ones that helped him in the forest. He looked back to Ozpin, "What are you getting at?"

"I would like to partner you with these four girls. Since you encountered them first I assume you've made a subconscious decision already," Ozpin said with a small smirk as he watched Jay shuffle a little in place. Ozpin quickly typed away on his desk and summoned Team RWBY to his office. With not much else to discuss, Jay reached behind him and pulled out some COG Tags. He sorted through them and picked out two specific ones. He set them down on Ozpin's desk in front of him. Curiously, Ozpin took both with one in each hand. When he read the names that's when it dawned on him. Wherever he was from, he lost family to whatever was happening there. Ozpin slid the tags back to Jay just before Team RWBY arrived in the elevator.

"Team RWBY reporting as requested," The leading brunette girl said happily with a salute. The other three just stared at Jay as he put the tags back in his pouch. Jay smiled under his helmet at the Brunette simply because of her enthusiasm. He observed the white-haired, raven-haired and blonde girl as they walked in. Jay watched the girls as he thought, 'Leader is Ruby, Brunette, followed by Weiss, white hair, then Blake, raven hair, finally Yang, blonde.'

"Ladies, I presume you remember Jay Rodgers," Ozpin said which drew Jay out of his thoughts and looked around. He found all four girls staring at him with stares that ranged in intensity. Weiss' stare was the most intense as if she was trying to gather as much from his appearance as possible. Next was Blake who looked him and down. Before long he noticed a small twitch from the bow on her head. He cocked his head slightly just subtle enough so no one would notice. Then there was Yang, she had a smile as she also looked him over. Finally, there was Ruby with stars in her eyes. She immediately zipped up to him and went behind him. She seemed to ogle his Lancer and Gnasher before he turned around to face her, "You know it's quite rude to stare."

She chuckled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. Ozpin cleared his throat which garnered the attention of everyone. "Now, Team RWBY, Mr. Rodgers here is a late addition to Beacon. I would like him to join your team. Show him around and have him feel welcome. Just keep in mind it might take a while for him to get used this lifestyle."

Ruby quickly nodded in reply and said, "Don't worry about a thing Professor. We can handle it."

Jay watched as the four girls quickly retreated back to the elevator before he turned to Ozpin, "We'll discuss more of my personal business at a later date."

Ozpin only nodded as he watched Jay pick his duffle bag and walk towards the in the elevator.

* * *

 **I keep saying shit and ugh. Just bare with me while I try to figure myself out some more. But regardless I always like writing so I hope you like my shitty attempts. Talk to you all soon.**


End file.
